Below is a list of the 15 Republican members who voted for the tax increase. In a few hours the House will vote to sustain or override the Governor’s veto of that tax increase.
Regardless of where you live, if you agree that the Republican Party should unite as a team and support the Governor, then take a few minutes to contact these Representatives. Tell them that you are a Republican and expect them to be a team player.
- Steve Andersson, st***@st********.com , 217-782-5457;
- Terri Bryant, st*****************@gm***.com , 217-782-0387;
- John Cavaletto, 217-782-0066;
- C.D. Davidsmeyer, da*********@il********.org , 217-782-1840;
- Mike Fortner, mi**********@sb*******.net , 217-782-1653;
- Norine Hammond, re********@ma****.com , 217-782-0416;
- David Harris, re*******@ya***.com , 217-782-3739;
- Chad Hays, 217-782-4811;
- Sarah Jimenez, sj******@il********.org , 217-782-0044;
- Charles Meier, re*******@gm***.com , 217-782-6401;
- Bill Mitchell, re*********@ea*******.net , 217-782-8163;
- Reginald Phillips, 217-558-1040
- Robert Pritchard, bo*@pr***************.com , 217-782-0425;
- David Reis, 217-782-2087; and
- Michael Unes, re*****@gm***.com , 217-782-8152
Below are statements from Governor Bruce Rauner and Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider regarding Mike Madigan’s permanent 32% tax hike passed over the weekend. Madigan’s tax hike vote comes after he broke away from the ongoing, bipartisan negotiations focused on passing a balanced budget with reforms. In an effort to protect taxpayers and take Illinois in a new direction, Governor Rauner swiftly vetoed Madigan’s tax hike, but the Senate overrode that veto and an override vote is pending in the House.
Governor Rauner’s statement on the passage of Mike Madigan’s 32% tax hike:
When I took office, I promised the taxpayers of Illinois that I would fight every day to take this state in a new direction after decades of failed leadership from both parties.Today, Springfield has decided to give the people of Illinois the largest tax hike in history and continue out of balance budgets with no real reform.
Under Speaker Madigan’s direction, legislators chose to double down on higher taxes while protecting the special interests and refusing to reform the status quo. It’s a repeat of the failed policies that created this financial crisis and caused jobs and taxpayers to flee.
I will veto Mike Madigan’s permanent 32 percent tax hike. Illinois families don’t deserve to have more of the hard-earned money taken from them when the legislature has done little to restore confidence in government or grow jobs. Illinois families deserve more jobs, property tax relief and term limits. But tonight they got more of the same.
For two and a half years we have been working to find common ground on a balanced budget. As recently as two days ago we believed that was possible.
The legislature could have passed a no reform budget like this one two years ago. Instead, they allowed Mike Madigan to play his political games, passed phony budgets, racked up our debt and inflicted pain on the most vulnerable. All of this to force a permanent, 32 percent tax increase on Illinois families.
Moving forward, this vote shows that if the legislature is willing to pass the largest tax hike in state history with no reforms, then we must engage citizens and redouble our efforts to change the state.
Governor Rauner’s veto message for SB 6, SB 9, and SB 42:
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois Senate,
100th General Assembly:
Today I veto Senate Bill 6 from the 100th General Assembly, which is part of Speaker Michael Madigan’s 32% permanent income tax increase forced upon the hard working people of Illinois.
The package of legislation fails to address Illinois’ fiscal and economic crisis – and in fact, makes it worse in the long run. It does not balance the budget. It does not make nearly sufficient spending reductions, does not pay down our debt, and holds schools hostage to force a Chicago bailout.
This budget package does not provide property tax relief to struggling families and employers. It does not provide regulatory relief to businesses to create jobs and grow the economy. It does not include real term limits on state elected officials to fix our broken political system.
Even with the Madigan permanent 32% income tax increase, this budget remains $2 billion out of balance for fiscal year 2018. This budget will require even more tax hikes to balance the budget and pay down the bill backlog. This budget puts Illinois on track for major future tax increases and will lead us to become the highest taxed state in America in the coming years.
Moreover, this budget package holds K-12 school funding across Illinois hostage to force a bailout of Chicago Public Schools. Hidden in this budget are terms that withhold school funding unless the school funding formula is rewritten to shift money from suburban and downstate school districts to CPS.
Budgets in Illinois will not be balanced or stay balanced unless our economy grows faster than our government spending. We have been ignoring that truth for 35 years. This budget package includes no changes to create jobs and grow our economy. It will push more families and businesses out of our state.
Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 6, entitled “AN ACT concerning appropriations”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider’s statement on the passage of Mike Madigan’s 32% tax hike:
Today, Springfield politicians led by Speaker Mike Madigan voted to permanently raise taxes by 32% on the hard-working families of Illinois without passing property tax relief for homeowners, job-creating reforms, or term limits on politicians.
Make no mistake about it – this historic vote was not the product of negotiation and compromise focused on pro-growth, citizen-empowering reforms. Last night, Madigan broke away from good faith budget negotiations with the intent of pushing his own plan to protect the broken status quo. Today, Madigan then introduced his massive 1,241-page tax-and-spend plan and gave lawmakers only hours to read, debate, and vote on the package.
This 32% permanent tax increase, the largest in Illinois’ history, was the product of insider deal-making between special interests and entrenched politicians. Next year, voters will hold those politicians accountable for choosing Madigan over the people of Illinois.
Now more than ever, Republicans across Illinois are standing with Governor Rauner and redoubling our efforts to end Madigan’s corrupt status quo.
